Serious Games: Gardenscapes 2

Serious Gaming in the French Classroom:

In order to engage with the online gaming world and to see what benefits it would have for the FL classroom, I created an account with BigFish which allowed for a one hour free trial. This site also allowed me to change my language to French and access a bunch of games in French. I browsed for a game that would be applicable to a High School French classroom (i.e. easy grammar and vocabulary) with a purpose such as time management. I finally found a game that sparked my interest: Gardenscapes 2.  I fooled around on this game for the whole hour and found it very relevant to the French classroom.

Language Learning Objectives:

This game presents very advanced grammar and vocabulary so I would expect to use it in a level 3 class or above. By using this game in the French classroom, students will be able to:

• Read and respond to vocabulary pertaining to everyday household items, people, places, etc.
•   Read and respond to communicative French (imperatives,  interrogatives, etc)
•  Read and understand different forms of French grammar
• Read and understand different French language tenses

Role of Teacher:

I would use this computer game as a lesson on grammar, language tense, or vocabulary and scaffold my students along the way. I would not expect my students to understand ALL of the language that is presented in the game, but instead to use it as a language tool to learn new vocabulary and grammar. Because the game only presents written language, I would like to read the dialogue out loud to the students where it is possible and walk them through the directions to ensure that they are clear.  This would allow for students to receive language input in both written and spoken forms. After reading and explain the directions in French, I would pause so that the students could attempt the level.

Role of the Student:

The Students would be actively involved in this game by following the French prompts on the screen: They must match French vocabulary with the correct picture in order to receive tokens/money for the garden. This motivation alone will inspire them to reach the correct answers.

Assessing Student Progress:

One way to assess student progress is to walk around and check the computer monitors to ensure that the students are making the right choices. Also, to check that students are meeting the language objectives, I would informally assess their understanding of the language that is used in the game by either monitoring their progress when a prompt is given, or by verbally repeating the same question or statement to see if they are able to comprehend it. 

Benefits of Escape the Room Games in the FL/ESL Education

What is Gamificaion?

According to the article, “Things You Should Know About…Gamification,” gamification is the application of game elements in non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior.”

Why Use Games in Language Learning?

Author Stephen Franciosi of the article “A Comparison ofComputer Game and Language-Learning Task Design Using Flow Theory,” states that using games in the foreign language classroom can offer students concrete goals, meaningful feedback and varied skill and difficulty levels. Franciosi states the benefits of using computer games in the classroom, and how games provide students with clear goals: “Successful computer games tend to have concrete goals in the form of quantifiable scores, payoffs and/or accomplishments that express outcomes which are explicit and objective” (p16).  Next, Franciosi describes the meaningful and immediate feedback that is given through games: “In well-designed computer games, feedback is usually immediate and unambiguous, provided through the use of audio/visual cues such as timers, score boards, collapsing or exploding foes, spatial movement and the like (referred to collectively as "output" by Rollings & Adams (2003, p. 183))”(p. 17). Lastly, students can experience a balance between skill and difficulty level: “The intention of such architecture is, of course, to facilitate an environment where the level of difficulty increases gradually and concurrently with player skill level. Second, computer-mediated games are able to respond in real time based on player feedback, and so are ideal for supporting adaptive learning (Torrente, Moreno-Ger, & Fernandez-Manjon, 2008)” (p 18).

Using Gaming in the Classroom:

In order to engage with the online gaming world and to see what benefits it would have for the FL/ESL classroom, I attempted to play an escape the room game called The Great Kitchen Escape. This type of game challenges students to think critically and strategically, using English vocabulary to 'escape' the kitchen and exit into the next room.

I played this game for about a half hour and needed to use the 'walkthrough' tool in order to help me progress to the next level and finish the game. I believe that this game would yeild multiple benefits for beginner ESL students and even foreign language students, if the teacher is able and willing to translate the lesson, pre-teach vocabulary and scaffold.

Language Learning Objectives:

This game has the ability to present basic-advanced English/Foreign language grammar (depending on the dialogue of the teacher); however the vocabulary is very basic. Students would be able to: 

• Read and respond to vocabulary pertaining to everyday household items.
•   Read and respond to communicative English/FL (imperatives,  interrogatives, etc)
•  Read and understand different forms of French grammar
• Read and understand different French language tenses

Role of Teacher:

I would use this computer program as a lesson on basic vocabulary and grammar, and scaffold my students along the way. It would be used as a language tool to learn and practice new vocabulary and grammar. Because the game only presents written language, I would like to read the dialogue out loud to the students where it is possible and walk them through the directions to ensure that they are clear.  This would allow for students to receive language input in both written and spoken forms. After reading and explaining the directions in English/French, I would pause so that the students could attempt the level.

Role of the Student:

The Students would be actively involved in this game by following the language prompts on the screen: They must select the correct picture with the vocabulary word, and in turn they will be granted access into the next room. This motivation alone will inspire them to reach the correct answers.

Assessing Student Progress:

One way to assess student progress is to walk around and check the computer monitors to ensure that the students are making the right choices. Also, to check that students are meeting the language objectives, I would informally assess their understanding of the language that is used in the game by either monitoring their progress when a prompt is given, or by verbally repeating the same question or statement to see if they are able to comprehend it. 

Twitter for Classroom and Professional Development

Twitter is no longer a social networking site for following your favorite celebrity; instead you can communicate and share ideas with professional educators and students from all over the world, and even engage students in your own classroom!

Jeff Dunn describes all of the benefits of using Twitter in the classroom in his article, “The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter in Education.” Dunn writes that students have the ability to communicate through a medium where they feel more comfortable to express themselves freely whereas in the classroom they may feel shy and afraid to speak up.  Dunn writes, “Dr. Monica Rankin of the University of Texas at Dallas was pleasantly surprised when her experiment with Twitter began pulling more students into discussion. ‘It’s been really exciting because, in classes like this, you’ll have three people who talk about the discussion material, and so to actually have 30 or 40 people at the same time talking about it is really interesting,’ said Megan Malone, Teaching Assistant to Dr. Monica Rankin’s United States history course

In a second article, “The Teacher’s Guide to Twitter,” by Edudemic, it shares ideas for connecting to Twitter in the classroom and ideas for professional development. In the classroom, teachers can communicate effectively with students and parents inside and outside of the classroom, students can work collaboratively with in the classroom on projects, and students can practice and learn a foreign language. “Using a service like twitterlearn or just practicing conversation skills with other Twitterers around the globe, students can practice a foreign language.”

Through personal experience with Twitter, it is important to network and communicate with the professionals in your field in order to make the most of the material and knowledge that is available.  The article says, “Follow some of the people you find interesting, exchange ideas and conversations with others using the #hashtag conversations you’re involved in, and when appropriate, take it to the next step: connect with them – either via other social media, email, or at a conference you’re both attending.” After following some educators in my field, I found that they shared links to other resources on sites like Scoop.it!, and I was able to grab additional classroom tools and teaching ideas. 

Twitter Chatting for Professional Development

Today, I finally joined the Twitter world, and I suddenly feel so much more connected! I never felt the desire to be a Twitter user, but once I realized, through this course module, that you could use Twitter for educational and professional purposes, I was all in.

After creating an account, I chose to join the language chat group, #langchat, a group that discusses foreign language. This group discusses everything from classroom teaching methods and techniques to study abroad and job opportunities. I am excited to be a part of this group each week and learn from the many members who seem to have great ideas and experiences.

Twitter would be an excellent networking opportunity as well as professional development opportunity because just about every organization is a Twitter user and you can communicate with them quickly and easily. I am currently following language and education groups like ACTFL, NYSAFLT, FL Teach Online, and Edutopia.  Twitter allows for effective networking, communication, and learning.